Houston, we have a problem.

During the reigns of Trump I and Trump II the United States has suffered catastrophic damage. President Trump engages in deliberate cruelty. He, and his cronies, plunder the wealth and honor of the United States for personal gain.

Our national Humpty Dumpty has had a great fall - and is falling further with each passing day.

One wonders whether all the king's horses and all the king's men can put our national Humpty Dumpty back together again.

What are the goals of our American Tribunal?

The primary goal is to re-establish a nation that is honest and just.

But there are several other goals.

Before getting into the American Tribunal we should remember that there is much that may be done now, without the need for this proposed tribunal.

The ideas below may be put into action today, before the end of the Trump/MAGA era.

In some cases these ideas may be put into action simply through private choces without the need for any action by a court of government body.

A tribunal is a court. But it is not an ordinary court. In this discussion a Tribunal is an powerful court designed to handle extraordinary situations.

Our American Tribunal will face many problems. Among these are its foundation of authority, its limits, its procedures, and its powers to impose corrective, remedial, or punitive measures.

Human history is filled with different systems to evaluate accusations, weigh evidence, and make judgements.

Many of these systems, such as trial by ordeal, have disappeared. (No one shed tears over their extinction.)

On the other hand other judicial systems have become the norm. These are usually systems in which a panel of disinterested people evaluate and weigh facts within a procedural context overseen by a disinterested judge (or panel of judges.)

Such is a tribunal.

This article is the core of this website.

It is safe to say that most of us do not want to engage in the kind of unprincipled, unguided, unlimited chaos that we call a "revolution".

Most of us would prefer that there be some guiding stars and an established, even if vague and uncharted, framework in which changes are made.

That means that we need to look for hooks that we can use as sources for authority and, implicitly, confine the scope of our Tribunal.

At first glance there seem to be few such hooks in our organic document, the Constitution of the United States. Here we look more deeply and do find that the United States does have the authority and jurisdiction for a tribunal that is both powerful and wide in scope.

The American Tribunal is not without substantial risk.

There are many who support, with almost religious ferver, the Trump/MAGA regime and Donald Trump himself. These people may, and many probably will, have strong reactions to the Tribunal, especially after it begins its work.

These supporters have shown, such as on January 6, 2021, that they are willing to use mass violence.

A tribunal can't simply be wished into existance.

It must be created and organized, it must be filled with people, it must have a place to operate, it must have resoures, and it must have money.

So how do we actually assemble the proposed American Tribunal?

The laws of physics tell us that a body in motion will continue in motion and that a body at rest will remain at rest unless a forces is applied.

Human nature is similar - most of us will not undertake a dangerous or uncertain act if we had to begin it alone. We humans like the comfort of company, of a joint enterprise.

So, given that this American Tribunal is both dangerous and uncertain how are we going to move from talking to actual action?

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In our legal system we divide cases into two large classes: Civil and Criminal. Civil law is intended to be mostly curative. Criminal law is aimed at punishment of past acts and deterence of future acts. In our legal practice here in the US the Civil and Criminal systems are almost entirely separate.

Should our American Tribunal retain that hard distinction between Civil and Criminal?

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Western systems of justice have complex systems through which a defendant can appeal procedures, findings, and judgements. In some cases these appeals drag on for years while justice is diluted and even erased.

Should this American Tribunal have an appellate process? This writer believe the answer must be "yes". However, at the same time, this writer beleives that appeals processes must be quick and effectively final.

After the Tribunal renders its judgements comes the time for appeals and, ultimately, enforcement of those judgements.

Some defendants may acquiesce with grace.

It is more likely, however, that there will be difficulties.

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall;
All the king's horses and all the king's men,
Couldn't put Humpty together again.

In law the word "remedy" encompasses all the means that a court has within its power to attempt to cure the harms that the defendant caused to the plaintiff.

The legal system recognizes that not all harms can be fully cured nor the status quo ante restored.

In our American Tribunal we must recognize that we cannot fully remedy the harms caused by the Trump/Maga government.

But we should strive to do what we can.

One of our goals is to prevent a re-occurrence of the Trump/Maga Era (TME).

There are two general methods:

• The carrot: Create a reward structure for those who avoid repeating the act in the future.
• The stick: Creation of a credible fear that there will be serious consequences should the act be repeated in the future.

There are several international courts and tribunals. See the Wikipedia article "International court".

The US has shown that there are several ways that one country can exert influence over individuals in another country.

There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch - TANSTAAFL.

This American Tribunal is going to be expensive - and that expense will extend and continue over a span of several years.

What expenses and costs can we expect? And who will bear that burden?

In an endeavor as big, complex, and potentially dangerous as a Tribunal to redress the wrongs of the Trump/Maga Era (TME) there are cadres of devils to be found in the details.

This article attempts to deal with a few of those devils.

Here is a reading list and bibliography for those of you who want to delve into these topics in greater detail

Here are some tunes that seem relevant to the idea of a tribunal to redress the harms of the MAGA era.